5 Critical Reasons Why Your Organization Needs an AI-Powered Connected GRC Solution

Introduction

As global business landscapes grow increasingly intricate, managing governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) becomes more challenging. The Accenture Risk Study: 2024 Edition reports that 83% of risk leaders believe complex, interconnected risks are emerging at an accelerated pace.

Organizations today need to deal with an onslaught of regulations, interconnected risks, and operational uncertainties, often compounded by siloed risk and compliance management systems. Deloitte’s Global Risk Management Survey, 2023 highlighted these challenges, with 69% of executives reporting that their risk management processes were largely or partially siloed, resulting in blind spots and slowing response times.

As organizations work towards simplifying GRC processes for more efficient risk visibility, stronger compliance, and informed decision-making, embarking on simplified, AI-driven connected GRC strategy is the way forward. 

Here are 5 reasons why a connected GRC solution is essential for your organization in today’s interconnected risk and compliance environment.

1. Consolidate Siloed Processes for Greater Risk Visibility

Risk and compliance functions continue to operate within departmental silos in several organizations. For instance, IT security, legal, and financial teams in an enterprise often manage risks and controls in isolation, resulting in inconsistent or insufficient reporting and a lack of cross-functional insights. This disconnect can create significant vulnerabilities, with operational risks or compliance lapses, for example, going unrecognized until they lead to costly incidents.

Implementing a connected GRC solution eliminates these silos and enables a 360° view of risks and controls across departments. With centralized data and aligned workflows, risk management becomes a collaborative and simplified effort, empowering organizations to manage interconnected risks effectively. According to Chartis Research Integrated GRC Solutions, 2024: Market Update and Vendor Landscape, the future of GRC will be a ‘data-driven integration of operations, technology, and control across the enterprise.’ Moving towards this broader risk visibility not only supports proactive risk management but also fosters resilience, uniting departments in a shared governance strategy.

2. Scalable, Automated Compliance in the Dynamic Compliance and Regulatory Landscape

The 2023 Thomson Reuters Risk and Compliance Survey Report highlighted that more than half of risk and compliance professionals spent time identifying and assessing risk (56%) and monitoring compliance (52%). And with new regulations continuously emerging across different regions and industries most global organizations are finding it challenging to keep pace with these changes.

An AI-powered connected GRC solution enables organizations to achieve scalable, automated compliance by centralizing processes, streamlining the tracking of regulatory updates, and automating the implementation of compliance measures. By adopting a connected approach, the manual burden of compliance teams is reduced, while the risk of non-compliance is mitigated. Organizations can respond swiftly to regulatory changes, minimizing the potential for fines, legal consequences, and reputational harm.

3. Reduce the Hidden Costs that are a Result of Fragmented GRC Systems

A 2023 McKinsey study reported that 30% of risk management activities across organizations are duplicated due to siloed operations. Point GRC solutions and manual processes can result in not just duplicated efforts but also data redundancies, and even compliance gaps-- leading to higher operational costs.

An integrated and intelligent solution that centralizes risk and compliance data, automates workflows, and integrates reporting, leads to reducing errors and streamlining of operations. Such a solution can further work to help reduce administrative costs and optimize resource allocation.

4. Greater Focus on Operational Resilience

There is a growing global push towards operational resilience, driven by increasing regulatory expectations to mitigate disruptions in critical services. Key frameworks include the UK's FCA and PRA guidelines requiring impact tolerance measures, the EU's Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) focusing on ICT risk management, and the United States’ regulatory efforts emphasizing third-party and operational risk. In Asia-Pacific, standards from APRA and HKMA also prioritize robust continuity strategies. (Read our blog on Operational Resilience Takes Regulatory Center Stage. Are You Prepared?)

Traditional, reactive risk management approaches are no longer sufficient to ensure operational resilience. A connected GRC solution enables a shift to a proactive approach by linking risk data with business continuity and incident response plans. This approach can help organizations identify emerging risks early, assess their potential impact, and devise proactive response strategies.

5. Real-time Insights for Informed Decision Making

In a fast-paced business environment, timely and informed decision-making is essential. Yet, when data is scattered across multiple systems, decision-makers struggle to access the insights they need, often relying on outdated or incomplete information. When polled on the top risk function that risk leaders focussed on during the past 12 months, the highest number--44%--responded that it involved closely integrating risk analysis with important business decisions. (Accenture Risk Study: 2024 Edition).

A connected GRC platform, with AI capabilities, is the way forward for leaders seeking a unified view with consolidated data across risk, compliance, and governance functions. With integrated reporting and AI-powered analytics, GRC as a function can be transformed into a proactive partner for strategic decision-making.

Explore the Solution Perspective on MetricStream’s ConnectedGRC by GRC 20/20 Research

The leading GRC research analyst firm, GRC 20/20 Research, headed by Michael Rasmussen, GRC Pundit and globally recognized as the Father of GRC, conducted an independent and objective research into MetricStream’s ConnectedGRC by evaluating the solution and interacting with MetricStream’s customers.

The report finds that MetricStream has enabled them to see an integrated and connected view of GRC information, reporting, and processes with a single source of truth from a common information architecture, improving visibility across the organization while also eliminating the overhead of manual processes.

The solution perspective explores:

• Customers' GRC journeys before MetricStream, their reasons for choosing it, and how they used it
• The core capabilities and functionalities of MetricStream ConnectedGRC
• The key benefits organizations can achieve by adopting the solution